Our project experience.

There is a trend within the payment industry to take on the cross-border market and develop networks to compete against legacy services. During this project, we supported a cross-border payment provider with a comparative analysis of the services provided by other actors in this space. Eight players from several geographies were included in this study. The analysis helped our client understand its strengths and weaknesses. It also identified key trends among service providers in delivering value-added services for cross-border payments.

Lipis Advisors helped a payment system operator to identify use cases that could be migrated to real-time payments, and analyze the system functionality to enable the migration of legacy payment types to real-time payments. This included gaining a deep understanding of how businesses, merchants, and consumers make and receive payments, the cost structure around accepting payments, and what incentives need to be in place to encourage migration. The project outcome was a tailored strategy to support our client in its volume migration process that included recommendations for achieving migration goals, a list of concrete actions our client should take to affect migration, and an analysis of the issues it should monitor throughout the migration process.

We support payment system operators across the globe with payment system benchmarking analyses. Our latest projects of this kind include:

- A comparative analysis of European payment infrastructures covering the value-added services offered, the plans for new developments, and detailed information about the provision of mobile payment services. The findings helped our client improve its value proposition and develop its strategy for the next five years.

- A comparison of real-time and batch payment infrastructures across 12 markets to support a payment system operator during its modernization efforts. The goal of this project was to ensure the ideal design of our client's new payment system. To do this, we carried out in-depth research and relied on our contacts in the industry. The project findings increased confidence in the functional design of the new system, recommended new features or services to include, and improved the articulation of the system's business case.

Lipis Advisors assisted a payment system operator during its efforts to implement a fraud prevention and detection strategy for real-time payments. Throughout the project, we conducted research on the major fraud typologies in various markets across the globe, and analyzed the different strategies put in place in each market by the payment system operator, regulator, payment/banking associations, and payment service providers.
The project concluded with recommendations for preventing fraud that are currently being implemented.

We provided a series of master-level workshops and reports on different topics related to real-time payment strategies across several markets. Our reports covered various aspects of the payment ecosystem such as the market's key stakeholders, payment regulation, open banking, payment infrastructure details, payment data to analyze end-user payment behavior, and potential fintech opportunities within the markets in scope. Based on these workshops, the client was able to develop and execute an effective market entry strategy.

We wrote a report for a payment system operator in concerning the use of data in payment systems around the world. The operator was in the process of modernizing many of its payment systems for bulk and high-value payments. We conducted technical research and interviewed multiple stakeholders from each system.
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The report looked at how central infrastructures use data and aggregate data for internal purposes (fraud, liquidity, and capacity management) and external purposes (accessibility and customized services). We focused on how data and aggregated data could be used to lower barriers to entry for third-party payment providers and smaller financial institutions. We also examined how central infrastructures are leveraging data to improve their systems and offerings, while remaining compliant with data privacy regulations. Our work provided critical input for the client's roadmap to modernization.

Lipis Advisors helped a client develop a payment diversification strategy to extend its payment processing capabilities to real-time payments. The project broadly consisted of four aspects: capability gap analysis, partner identification, evaluation, and selection. The project concluded by successfully selecting a strategic partner with whom our client wanted to move forward. Our work helped our client stay competitive in its field by diversifying its payment strategy to include real-time payments capability.

The goal of the project was to identify fintech solutions to foster SME lending in Afghanistan and find potential fintech providers for the Afghan Credit Guarantee Foundation's (ACGF) partner institutions such as banks and microfinance institutions. The project consisted of two main aspects: research and analysis of the needs of the Afghan SME lending market and identification of suitable fintech solutions and providers. The ACGF project created a practical roadmap for banking inclusion and financial literacy in one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world.

We chair the faculty and lead the delivery of the Euro Banking Associations’ Summer and Winter Schools.‍
The biannual programs are attended by payment professionals seeking new insights into key business, technology and regulatory developments impacting the European payments industry.